Decoding the Gurus

We wallow in the mud with some of the worst gurus of the gurusphere. Join us and lament the guru paradise that we all live in. Supplementary Material 32 00:00 Introduction and Banter 01:22 Old Squeaky and Daily Life 03:53 Matthew McConaughey Episode Recap 08:13 The Liver King Controversy 16:14 Nazi Propaganda on YouTube 21:11 Historical Revisionism: Darryl Cooper and David Irving 27:46 Huberman's very public hardcore research 32:25 Huberman sells out 34:32 Chris Langan: The Bottom (Racist) Tier of Gurudom 36:03 Langan on Weinstein 42:21 Langan's grievances against Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson 49:47 Matt Goodwin visits London 55:59 Gary Stevenson hates Graphs and Data 01:10:33 Gary compares himself to Russell Brand 01:15:12 THEY won't let you talk about the economy 01:17:22 Matt invokes Goodwin's Law 01:25:08 The All In Podcast Besties launch a Tequila Brand 01:28:32 Matt's Modest Utopian Plan 01:31:12 Lab Leak Discourse continues at the Guardian 01:35:55 Matt attacks the Mainstream Media 01:39:11 Dugin's Forum of the Future 2050 and the Guru Horseshoe 01:45:57 Extended Outro The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hr 50 mins). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus [https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus] Sources * 2Lazy2Try: The Liver King Gets Arrested For Trying To Hunt Down Joe Rogan [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-_dNVOYAJA] * Rob Mohr tweets out an iconic photo of Huberman [https://x.com/R_Mohr/status/1936892011778331085] * Scott Carney: Documenting Andrew Huberman's Lies [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0thkoCYhJnc&t=539s] * Chris Langan's thoughts on Eric Weinstein [https://x.com/RealChrisLangan/status/1927476911984218528] * Chris Langan's thoughts on Elon Musk & Jordan Peterson [https://x.com/RealChrisLangan/status/1931129350331494624] * Matt Goodwin's visit to London [https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1936548371423961173] * Despolarisa: #89 GARY STEVENSON - Economics, Trading, Inequality, Wealth, Populism, Tax, Depolarize [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQMuto9wdg8] * The All-In Podcast guys being bastards [https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/24/the-all-in-podcasts-1200-tequila-has-already-sold-out/] * Tsargard Institute: The Forum for the Future 2050 [https://forumfuture2050.ru/en/]

In this episode, Matt and Chris try to get from where they are to where they want to be, accepting their hidden strengths and dismantling their egos as they immerse themselves fully in the wild world of Matthew McConaughey's burgeoning self-help empire. Join them as they uncover the true Art of Livin’ and learn how it is that an Academy Award-winning Hollywood star finds himself sharing life advice alongside the likes of Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi. With bongos, heartfelt confessions, and a sales pitch that'll make your wallet quiver, we break down the one-and-only event where journaling and wet dreams are your ticket to self-actualisation. Brace yourself for some heavy-duty motivational speeches, meaningful shared stories, and just a pinch of canned audience responses, as we ride shotgun on this once-in-a-lifetime self-help seminar. And how much will all this cost you? You ask? It should be $3000, but for today only, we give it all for free. Links * McConaughey's segment from the The Art of Livin' Event [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUDt3iwRBcw&t=144s] * KeyasWorld: Matthew McConaughey's self-help event WAS INSANE [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umq3pV3Yq1s] * KeyasWorld: Is Matthew McConaughey Starting a Cult? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrPsgs1xNIc] * Rolling Stone: Matthew McConaughey Will Dispense ‘Lyrics of Livin’ in New Weekly Newsletter [https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/matthew-mcconaughey-newsletter-lyrics-of-livin-1235219318/] * The Monastery in the Desert [https://christdesert.org/] * Mikhaila Peterson: #32 Matthew McConaughey [https://mikhailapeterson.com/podcasts/32-matthew-mcconaughey/] * Lex Fridman: Matthew McConaughey: Freedom, Truth, Family, Hardship, and Love | Lex Fridman Podcast #384 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qgIFD0PaWo]

Welcome to another enlightening episode of Decoding Academia. In this bonus preview of our highly secretive Patreon content, we are discussing a controversial paper by Dorsa Amir and Chaz Firestone that challenges the established notion of the Müller-Lyer illusion being a product of cultural environments. Prepare yourself for some high-level discussions of the visual processes of guppy fish and bearded lizards, as well as the remarkable lengths that psychologists will go to in order to get people to complete their tests. Will our seasoned scholars unravel the illusion, or is this debate another eye-catching mirage? Sources * (forthcoming) Amir, D., & Firestone, C. Is visual perception WEIRD? The Müller-Lyer illusion and the Cultural Byproduct Hypothesis. Psychological Review. [https://philarchive.org/rec/AMIIVP] * Dorsa's summary thread on the paper [https://x.com/DorsaAmir/status/1883273765960012201] * Joe Henrich's critical thread on the paper [https://x.com/JoHenrich/status/1890735624698683835] * Chaz's response to the Joe Henrich thread [https://x.com/chazfirestone/status/1891870737230688261] * Paul Bloom's Substack articles on Nature vs. Nurture debates [https://substack.com/home/post/p-156328472?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web] and clever experiments [https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net/p/its-fine-if-your-studies-dont-work?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&hide_intro_popup=true]

We venture into the darker corners of the gurusphere and marvel at some very, very brave individuals, their valiant efforts to play devil's advocate, and some world-class discourse surfing skills. Join us, won't you? Supplementary Material 31: Aquatic Nightmares, Strategic Obliviousness, & Race Realists 00:00 Introduction & Ol Squeaky Cameo 02:57 Matt's Aquarium Trauma & Stress Dreams 09:45 RFK Jr's war on science continues 11:17 Robert Malone & other 'Covid Contrarians' rewarded under Trump 14:35 The LA Protests, Riots, and Anti-Immigrant Narratives 20:12 Flint Dibble calls out Joe Rogan 25:24 Joe Rogan is a polemical ideologue and anti-vaccine advocate 27:34 Cassandra Kavanagh? 32:37 If Books Could Kill on Lab Leak 35:10 Popular Perceptions of the Covid Pandemic vs Reality 38:38 Debating COVID-19 Measures 38:59 Clarifying the Role of Sam's Manager 42:56 Discussing Trump, Musk, and DOGE's Political Impact 47:12 The Meaning Crisis and the Comfort of Religion 50:35 The Effects of Social Media 53:15 Matt and Chris Friendly Shadowboxing 56:19 The horror of directly stating your opinions 58:14 Sam Harris' Preparation for Conversations 01:05:02 Strategic Obliviousness 01:12:26 A little bit of TRT Discourse 01:16:17 Lex's Insufferable Tweet:  Celebrating Humanity and Responding to Critics 01:18:46 The Bravery of the All In Podcast Besties 01:20:33 Elon Musk and Donald Trump: A Complex Relationship 01:23:42 Mike from PA and Dunking Safely Online 01:26:10 Scientific Racism and Controversial Podcasts 01:34:02 Paul Bloom and Subjective Redlines 01:41:10 The Neo-Nazi Smoke in the Race Realism World 01:48:36 Daniël Lakens on Bryan Johnson on Mortality Salience 01:50:16 Matt's Foodie Corner 01:52:21 Outro The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hr 54 mins). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus [https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus] Sources * BBC- RFK Jr appoints new US vaccine advisers after sacking committee [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4zyp26xn2o] * Flint Dibble’s New Video: Joe Rogan's Cult of Fake Archaeology [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0tMcWeOuFY] * Lex Fridman’s Insufferable Tweet [https://x.com/lexfridman/status/1931055877382877566] * Sam Harris EPISODE 419 "More From Sam": Elon vs. Trump, Religion, Jordan Peterson, & Rapid Fire Questions [https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/419-more-from-sam-elon-vs-trump-religion-jordan-peterson-rapid-fire-questions] * The All In Besties being cowards [https://x.com/Jason/status/1931431319516668402] * The Guardian: Harvard author Steven Pinker appears on podcast linked to scientific racism [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jun/07/harvard-steven-pinker-aporia-podcast] * Steven Pinker on Aporia [https://www.aporiamagazine.com/p/podcast-steven-pinker] * Hope Not Hate’s investigation into Aporia and related race science networks [https://investigations.hopenothate.org.uk/race-science-inc/] * If Books Could Kill: The Lab Leak Goes Mainstream [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonus-the-lab-leak-goes-mainstream/id1651876897?i=1000711465615] * New Statesman: No, objecting to Cambridge’s appointment of a eugenicist is not about free speech [https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2018/12/no-objecting-cambridge-s-appointment-eugenicist-not-about-free-speech#amp] * Bo Winegard’s Tweet about Low IQ Parasites destroying the National Tree [https://x.com/C_Kavanagh/status/1236843102679138304] * Arthur Jensen’s Bio on SPLC [https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/arthur-jensen/] * Jackson, J. P., Jr. (2023). Arthur Jensen, evolutionary biology, and racism. History of Psychology, 26(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000221 [https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000221] * Paul Bloom with Diana Fleischman [https://www.aporiamagazine.com/p/podcast-paul-bloom] * The cost of South Africa’s misguided AIDS policies [https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/spr09aids/]

The Decoders welcome back cognitive anthropologist Manvir Singh for a continued exploration into the social and cognitive dimensions of shamanism. Building upon their earlier conversation, this episode involves further discussion of the psychological mechanisms and cultural patterns that make shamanic practices a recurring feature across human societies. Drawing from Singh's latest book, Shamanism: The Timeless Religion (2025), the discussion addresses how these ancient practices persist and adapt in modern contexts. Taking our standard meandering conversational journey with Manvir, we traverse topics such as whether Jesus and the Buddha were shamans, the parallels between the Siberian tundra and Silicon Valley, the potential emergence of AI-driven shamans within virtual reality environments, and whether dialogos with Hermes counts as a soul flight. Something for all the family! Links * Shamanism: The Timeless Religion by Manvir Singh (2025) [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/730339/shamanism-by-manvir-singh/] * Prof or Hobo website [https://www.proforhobo.com/] * New Yorker: The President Who Became a Prophet [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-president-who-became-a-prophet] * Our first interview with Manvir [https://decoding-the-gurus.captivate.fm/episode/interview-with-manvir-singh-on-gurus-shamans] * Buckner, William. 2022. "A Deceptive Curing Practice in Hunter–Gatherer Societies" Humans 2, no. 3: 95-103. https://doi.org/10.3390/humans2030007 [https://doi.org/10.3390/humans2030007]